Low Milk Supply? Don’t Give up Breastfeeding Right Now
If you are breastfeeding and are worried that you are not producing enough milk, there is one thing you need to know: you may not actually have a milk supply problem – and if you do, there are better solutions than the quick fixes that can offer. friends and family.
According to a study in pediatrics , 60% of women give up breastfeeding earlier than they would like. The most common reason given by moms in this study was “I didn’t have enough milk.”
This is sad for two reasons: the first is that we (as humans) do not know how to determine whether we are producing enough milk or not; and the other is that if you have a low milk supply, it is usually fixable, as long as you catch it earlier.
A baby who is getting enough milk will constantly gain weight and make a lot of wet diapers – six a day is the benchmark. Here are some completely normal things that breastfeeding moms sometimes mistake for signs of a lack of milk:
- The baby is breastfeeding, then fidgeting, and soon afterwards wants to breastfeed again . This is part of the normal routine known as cluster feeding and usually occurs in the evening.
- Frequent breastfeeding at any time of the day is normal. Infants who drink formula can usually stay longer between feeds than a breastfed baby, which sometimes causes breastfeeding mothers to think there is something wrong with their milk. At the same time, if a baby really needs more milk than what you can do, the act of grooming is often what tells your body to make more milk. This is a problem that solves itself.
- Nursing is different . In the first few weeks after giving birth, your breasts may feel full between feedings and a tingling sensation when milk is “coming out”. By the time your baby is a few months old, you may not feel full or tingling, and some mothers interpret this as a decrease in milk supply. This is not the case .
- You are not pumping “enough . “ “ Almost everyone gets less from expressing than their baby from breastfeeding . This can definitely be a problem if your goal is to pump a lot (say, if you’re at work and pumping bottles the next day for daycare), but it doesn’t tell you anything about how much your baby is actually getting when feeding. breasts.
While it’s perfectly normal, these things can be frustrating or problematic, so it’s worth seeking help if they bother you. But these are not necessarily signs of low milk supply. The female body produces milk based on supply and demand: the more a baby breastfeeds (or the more you express), the more messages your body receives saying ” Make more milk . “
This is where worrying about your supply can backfire: if you think your baby is not getting enough and decide to give him a bottle (formula or your own milk from your freezer), your body is missing some of them. signals, so that the next day you will earn a little less. This is how a seemingly low offer can turn into an actual low offer.
Supplements are not the answer
Well-meaning friends, family members, and strangers on the Internet may respond to breastfeeding problems by suggesting you try a milk supplement — usually something “natural”, such as food or herbs.
For example, you may be tempted to buy a mother’s milk tea containing herbs that have been “traditionally used to help mothers maintain breast milk production and promote healthy lactation.” Just because something is traditional doesn’t mean it works.
Fenugreek is one of the ingredients in this tea and you can also buy it in pill form. It’s rumored to be effective and mostly safe ( side effects include upset stomach, low blood sugar, and your sweat smelling like maple syrup), but the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine has only been able to produce one report confirming its effectiveness in increasing milk production . – and it was not a clinical trial, but a collection of anecdotes from women who said it worked for them. More recently, a small study published in the journal Clinical Lactation compared fenugreek supplements to a placebo and found no difference in milk supply between women who took and did not take the herb.
There are “breastfeeding cookies” you can make or buy , usually based on oatmeal, perhaps with chocolate chips, and always with flaxseed and brewer’s yeast. Here’s a typical recipe , and if you want to eat it, I won’t stop you. Sounds delicious. But the arguments for their ingredients are based on a combination of anecdotes and scientific hypotheses that have never materialized. out. For example, brewer’s yeast is present because beer appears to increase the level of prolactin , a hormone involved in milk production, in the blood . That’s a good theory, but more prolactin does not increase milk supply , according to a review by the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Despite the lack of evidence, some women swear by cookies (or tea, or oatmeal, or beer), but this is anecdotal evidence at its best: we can only hear from the few people who think it works, not those who ate. the opposite experience. We also cannot separate the effect of cookies from the effects of other things that people might be doing at the same time: for example, if someone ate cookies for breastfeeding and began to breastfeed or express milk more often, they might ascribe to cookies -files improvement.
Does it hurt to try a few cookies or a cup of tea? Not literally, but trying to fix a problem is costly if it is unlikely to help. You are either wasting money or time getting cookies that could have been spent looking for better and more efficient solutions to a problem – or wondering if you really have a problem.
What you can do (besides using cookies)
Look, I’m all for the cookie, but it doesn’t have to be oatmeal. If you think you really have a problem making milk, grab a pizza or pasta and call a professional (ideally an internationally certified breastfeeding counselor ) who can help you figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
Under the Affordable Care Act, your health insurance must cover breastfeeding care . If you are unsure of where to look, ask around: the hospital where you gave birth, your pediatrician or your local La Leche League can usually refer you to a qualified specialist.
An estimated 5 to 15 percent of young mothers have difficulty starting breastfeeding either because of physical problems or because they did not start breastfeeding right away. Some, but not all, of these women can still breastfeed if they receive care.
If you managed to start breastfeeding and your baby gained weight and had a lot of wet diapers, this is a good sign: it means that your body knows how to make milk. So the challenge is to get enough signals to get more done.
Breastfeeding counselor counseling and problem solving will likely focus on:
- Breastfeed your baby as much as possible (the more demand, the higher your supply)
- Make sure your baby is “feeding” properly so that you get plenty of milk without causing you pain or pain.
- Pumping is more efficient if your problem is poor pumping performance. This may include upgrading to a more powerful pump and pumping more frequently.
They may recommend galactagogic remedies – medications or foods to increase your supply, but only as a last resort. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine protocol for galactags is full of caveats: they don’t replace frequent breastfeeding or pumping, they don’t work very well, and those that can be effective with prescriptions – domperidone and methclopramide – are rare. but terrible side effects.
So even if cookies work (and you find people who swear they work), they still wouldn’t be a great option: you better find a professional to help you diagnose and fix the underlying problem.
Image courtesy of ABC Vector Illustration ( Shutterstock ).
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